The sound of Blue Note Records has been embedded in hip-hop since the music’s early days with artists like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, J Dilla, Beastie Boys, and more mining Blue Note’s rich catalog for inspiration and sampling from tracks by Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, Lonnie Smith, and others. In the early 1990s, Blue Note invited Us3 into the vaults for a jazz/hip-hop remix album that produced the smash single “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” and in 1996 went even further with The New Groove: The Blue Note Remix Project featuring remixes by Guru, The Ummah, The Roots, and more. It was Madlib who raised the bar next when the acclaimed DJ, producer, rapper, and multi-instrumentalist invaded the Blue Note vaults to create his 2003 masterpiece Shades of Blue. Madlib’s deep love of jazz (his uncle is trumpeter Jon Faddis) is apparent throughout this visionary album which features remixes, reimaginations, and reinterpretations of classics by Donald Byrd, Bobbi Humphrey, The Three Sounds, Ronnie Foster, Bobby Hutcherson, Andrew Hill, Wayne Shorter, and more.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition was mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Tracklist:

A1: Introduction
A2: Slim’s Return
A3: Distant Land
A4: Mystic Bounce

B1: Stormy
B2: Blue Note Interlude
B3: Please Set Me At Ease
B4: Funky Blue Note
B5: Alfred Lion Interlude

C1: Stepping Into Tomorrow
C2: Andrew Hill Break
C3: Montara

D1: Song For My Father
D2: Footprints
D3: Peace / Dolphin Dance
D4: Outro